Chinmay Katdare
Class of 2010
Investments professional, Khazanah Nasional

 

Previous Occupation: Wholesale and Retail Banking
Present Occupation: Khazanah Nasional, Investments professional
Sector: Investments
Work Experience: 9 years
Interests: Professional/Personal
Professional: Behavioural finance, macroeconomics, corporate M&A
Personal: Dancing, reading (primarily fiction), music

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
I grew up in a middle class family of four. My mother worked with a school for specially-abled children, my father was an engineering consultant, my brother loved medicine and is now an oncologist, while I was the numbers guy. My wife, who was with me at ISB, is in the accounting space.

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
Before attending ISB, I was in the banking space and worked in the retail and wholesale banking segments with Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bank of America group respectively. However, I was keen to make a shift to equity investments post-ISB (effectively a pipe dream in the recessionary year of 2010!). I waited for 3 months post-graduation to get into my desired field before eventually moving into my current organisation where I have been for almost 4 years now. I joined as an Associate in the Investments division and progressed to an AVP position in a couple of years.

Describe your fondest memory at ISB.
It is impossible to choose the fondest since there would be countless memories to choose from- the first day @ISB, the event organising, the crazy study group discussions and assignments, the parties, solstice, the placement rushed al.

In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting impression?
ISB has changed the way I perceive and interact with people. At ISB, the sheer diversity of the batch ensured that each student had a special attribute. This made me humbler and I have learnt to respect and appreciate diverse viewpoints and choices. Overall, ISB has helped me think holistically.

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
The personal and academic experiences at ISB have helped me develop the right skills and attributes for an extremely challenging and competitive career. I believe that my tenure at ISB has helped shape my response mechanism to challenges which in turn has helped me develop professionally.

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Cauldron! A melting pot of extremely talented individuals.

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
The amazing diversity of students and the world-class faculty. The faculty here brings a vast knowledge bank and a very different approach to the curriculum. An example was learning accounting again under Prof.Mark Finn. Though I had studied accounting earlier, Prof. Finn brought a very refreshing approach to this subject.

Word of advice for the current class?
Stay focussed on the long term objective and don’t succumb to peer pressure. ISB offers you an opportunity to develop a career in your desired profession, don’t let go of it! The going might be difficult in the short term, but hang in there! Also, make full use of this year at ISB-the knowledge, the experiences, the bonds and the networks- will be with you for a long time!

What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
DMOP If it wasn’t for this course, I wouldn’t have gotten out of my comfort zone. Along with my grades, it also brought down my pretensions!
From an academic perspective, Investing in Private Equity was my favourite course given my career interests.

Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable.
There were two batchmates, Pavan and Abinand who multi-tasked as my pillars of strength, sounding boards as well as my quantitative crutches (given their engineering backgrounds). We all came from different backgrounds and cities but gelled unbelievably well. We all pooled in to help each other out in academics and leveraged each other’s strengths. Even 5 years post ISB, we are still in active touch and cherish our memories and the bond we built at ISB.

What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
Guiding the current batch to stay focussed on their career objectives and not get swayed by placement pressures, helping further grow brand ISB.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
The most enjoyable aspect of my current position is the ability to understand complex business models of multiple businesses and the path to value creation in each. There is new learning each day!

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
The decisive mandate given to the new government has put the Indian economy on an inflexion point. The next few years will be critical to see if the government is able to execute its vision for economic growth. If it indeed is able to, there would be multiple opportunities in infrastructure and consumption which will open up for foreign investment.




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